


More than Me

by mishcakes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Teensy Bit of Angst, blade of mamora keith, self conscious keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-20 15:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13149459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mishcakes/pseuds/mishcakes
Summary: Lance realises his feelings for Keith and Keith realises what he has to do to give lance what he deserves.Set in s3 the night after Keith and Lance's sixth wheel talk





	More than Me

**Author's Note:**

> secret santa gift for the lovely @my-ruu over on tumblr. hope you like it! <3

A sense of calm washed over Lance as he wandered the halls of the ship. It was dark, his path lowly lit by the blue sensor lights. It was late and the rest of the paladins were asleep. Roaming the halls wasn’t a new thing for Lance to do when he couldn’t sleep, but the spot he found had become his go-to place. A short walk up a few floors from the bedrooms led Lance to a large window that looked out into the vastness of space. There he sat on the window ledge, leaning his side up against the glass that separated him from the purple and pink galaxy that passed by as the castle drifted, on course to their next planetary visit. The sensor lights shut off and all that was left was the glow of the stars in the swirls of colour. Something about the night made Lance feel at peace, numb to the world around him. It was an odd mood, since most wrestles nights were due to him being homesick or anxiety ridden. Though nothing could skew his mood, not even Keith, who had stepped up quietly beside him. Lance made no attempt to ask why Keith was there, and frankly, he didn’t care. He was just happy there in the moment that was now being shared with Keith, existing together in a separate plane of existence. Keith said nothing to Lance either, perhaps waiting for Lance to take a jab at him, yell at him for ruining the view or even just scoffing when Keith leaned against the other side of the window.

Perhaps Keith had something to say. Something regarding the talk they had a few hours ago about Lance not having a place on the team. Something else to comfort him now that Keith had time to think or something about Lance being right. That thinking rationally, it would be best if Lance sat out, if he just stayed in the castle and took on more of Allura’s responsibilities to ease her load. But maybe for Lance, just Keith’s presence was enough to warm his soul. For now they can sit together in peace, as if they were two galaxies passing by, inches from colliding but never actually touching. A harmonious balance of power and peace. Sure, later on, the two galaxies would collide, destined to unleash their chaos onto each other and those surrounding. Keith doing something to make Lance snap is inevitable, although the two had made a lot of progress in the recent months and made great steps towards being the perfect duo with complimenting skills and mindsets.

Lance looked over to Keith who was looking back at him, his eyes gentle and warm. His face and features were soft in the purple light coming from outside the window. He had shed his jacket, allowing the dark flow of his shirt catch the light in ways the harshness of the white and red jacket couldn’t. Even his arms were stunning. Toned and pale crossed loosely against his chest in his typical Keith stance. Lance knew the heartache Keith felt for the loss of Shiro, but when their eyes locked, Keith looked content. Just for the moment. Keith looked beautiful.

Lance had seen Keith before, looked at him and stared him down, but he had never seen how gorgeous he was. He knew Keith was pretty. His eyes were big and dark and Lance definitely noticed when Keith wore his hair up when training. But there was always something else to split his focus from Keith, whether it be an argument or a mission or the threat of death. But here, there was no danger or mission to distract him. There was just Keith. Keith, with a smile spreading slowly across his face and a curious glint in his eyes because Lance had been staring at him. Keith was beautiful and Lance had never noticed truly to what extent.

“You’re so beautiful, Keith.” Lance had no idea what prompted him to say his thought out loud, but he didn’t care. Keith needed to hear it. Any other circumstance, Lance would have pushed the thought down, along with all the other confusing things he felt when he looked at Keith.

Keith’s eyes widened and he turned away, expression falling into something more saddened.

“Keith?” Lance sat up straight. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. Of course, he shouldn’t have. This was Keith. He probably hated that kind of shit and from Lance? He crossed a line. He ruined the moment. Of course, he did.

Lance was about to send a string of apologies Keith’s way in an attempt to fix his mistake but he was stopped dead in his tracks when Keith spoke, tone hushed. “I’ve never been told that before.”

Lance’s heart hurt at Keith’s confession. He ignored the pieces that were falling quickly into place in his mind. The jealousy he felt or the intrigue, the smiles he suppressed on the rare occasions that Keith laughed and the need to pick fights were making sense to him. Those feelings weren’t _because_ of Keith, they were _for_ Keith. And all it took for Lance to realise was a quiet moment where their souls were at rest and the thought that Keith didn’t know how amazing he was.

Keith scoffed a bitter laugh and looked back to Lance. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” Lance realised he was staring but he didn’t realise he had a particular look.

“Like you pity me. We can’t all be the pretty boy that everyone’s stumbling over to meet.” The sharpness in Keith’s tone caused Lance to recoil a little.

Wait. Was Keith jealous of Lance? Of the attention he gets? Of Lance’s looks? Or the ones on the receiving end of his pickup lines? “You don’t believe me, do you?” It wasn’t a question, more a statement of understanding.

Keith looked away again and shrugged, tightening his arms that were still folded over his chest. Lance reached out to place a hand reaffirming on Keith’s arm but he flinched away, and Lance lowered his arm back down.

“You’re lying. You hate how I look. You flirt with every other pretty person but never me, and you’ve made it more than clear that you hate this stupid haircut I have, so what’s your point?” Keith was glowering at Lance, words bitter but laced with sadness and longing. Lance never thought Keith would be bothered by Lance flirting with others since he thought Keith didn’t want anything to do with him. He hadn’t even considered that Keith would be self-conscious because he never seemed to care what people thought about him. If Lance was being honest, he really admired that about Keith.

Lance stood up from where he was perched on the windowsill and Keith unfurled from himself a little, unfolding his arms and wringing his hands nervously in front of him. “I made fun of you because I was jealous. You had everything I wanted. And I still kind of am but if I’m honest, I have no idea why I still provoke you so much. I guess it’s because you look cute when you’re all pouty.” Lance let out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I should’ve been flirting with you instead, if I had’ve known you wanted that. I don’t hate you, Keith. It’s confusing, what I feel, but it’s far from hate.”

Keith’s expression was conflicted, like he didn’t know what to believe, like he had a billion things he wanted to say but never did. Lance knew what it was like to be self-conscious and he had a good guess at what had Keith so distressed.

“You’re more than just pretty, though. If you think I’m really that shallow and those feelings are only because of your looks, you’re wrong. I didn’t notice how stunning you were ‘till tonight. No, that came out wrong. I mean, I knew you were hot, I Just-“

Keith pulled Lance close and kissed him hard. Keith’s lips muffled a surprised squeak from Lance before he kissed back, wrapping his arms around Keith’s neck. When Keith pulled back, Lance’s eyes were dopey and a grin spread across his lips.

Lance ran a hand through Keith’s hair, tucking it behind his ear. “What was that for?”

Keith looked away and Lance dropped his hands to hold Keith’s. “Keith?”

“I’m leaving.” Keith pulled his hands away from Lance’s and wrapped them around his own chest.

“What?” Lance’s high quickly deflated into concern.

Keith finally looked back up to Lance who was looking at him intently, brows knit with worry. “I’m leaving Voltron to join The Blade.”

Lance looked lost for words, his eyes darted around Keith’s face in hopes of finding something that would tell him that Keith was joking. “Why?” He eventually whispered.

“You deserve Red. You deserve to be a Paladin. You deserve to be here. You belong here.”

“What? And you think you don’t?”

“No, I don’t _think_ , I _know_. I’m not cut out for Black and I can’t lead this team like you or Shiro can. At least with The Blade there’s a place for me.”

Lance stayed quiet, opening his mouth and then closing it again, searching for the right words to convince Keith to stay, to convince him that he was family. Keith turned away and began to walk off. He’d already made up his mind. But a warm hand tugging on his wrist stopped him in his tracks. Lance pulled him back and kissed him, soft and kind and loving and sad.

“You don’t have to do this for me,” Lance said and leaned his head against Keith’s. “But I know I’m not going to be able to change your mind, so I just want you to know that you’ll always have a home here, okay?” Keith nodded against Lance and Lance pulled away, forcing a smile on Keith’s behalf and placing a hand on his cheek. “Just come home in one piece for me, Keith.”

“I will. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> i have a tumblr over at [lancesgalaxy](http://lancesgalaxy.tumblr.com/)


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